100 CRITICISMS ON " THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES " m 



mitted, nothing stops him : he plays with Nature as he likes, 

 and makes her do all he pleases. " (P. 6. ) 



And this is the way M. Flourens extinguishes 

 natural selection : 



"Voyonsdonc encore une fois, ce qu'il peut y avoir de fonde 

 dans ce qu'on nomme Election naturelle. 



' ' L 'election naturelle n'est sous un autre nom que la nature. 

 Pour un etfe organise, la nature n'est que 1'organisation, ni plus 

 ni moins. 



"II faudra done aussi personnifier 1'organisation, et dire que 

 T organisation choisit I 'organisation. L' election naturelle est 

 cette forme substantial? dont on jouait autrefois avec tant de 

 facilite. Aristote disait que 'Si 1'art de batir etait dans lebois, 

 cet art agirait comme la nature.' A la place de I' art de bdtir 

 M. Darwin met Selection naturelle, et c'est tout un : 1'un n'est 

 pas plus chimerique que 1'autre." (P. 31.) 



And this is really all that M. Flourens can make 

 of Natural Selection. We have given the original, 

 in fear lest a translation should be regarded as a 

 travesty ; but with the original before the reader, 

 we may try to analyse the passage. " For an 

 organised being, Nature is only organisation, 

 neither more nor less." 



Organised beings then have absolutely no 

 relation to inorganic nature : a plant does not 

 depend on soil or sunshine, climate, depth in the 

 ocean, height above it; the quantity of saline 

 matters in water have no influence upon animal 

 life ; the substitution of carbonic acid for oxygen 

 in our atmosphere would hurt nobody ! That 

 these are absurdities no one should know better 



